Thursday, March 15, 2012

The Reason Rally is just a little over a week away now. The charter bus from
Pittsburgh is now confirmed, and there are a few more seats available:
http://reasonrally.dcrallybus.com/Trip/From/Pittsburgh
Speakers will include Richard Dawkins, James Randi and Lawrence Knauss.
See the Website for more information: http://www.reasonrally.com/

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

On the Spot is a local organization which provides menstrual products to girls in local public schools. Many local students do not have access to proper menstrual products for various reasons, including economic hardship and disrupted family situations. Teachers, nurses and administrators at the schools do their best to provide the products, but pay for them out of their own pockets. Even more heartbreaking, young girls stay home from school while menstruating. Think these products are covered under food stamps? They aren't!

This month, On the Spot is teaming up with The Pittsburgh Tote Bag Project to help out these girls. They're asking that you donate menstrual products in a tote bag and bring it to one of the many drop-off spots (see here). Here's some suggestions on what to stock in the bag:

Box of pads, any size. Variety is good. Special need for pads designed for young girls.

Box of tampons, any size. Variety is good.

Panty liners, any variety. Unscented is best.

New reusable products are welcome, too. If we can give women choices, that’s good.

Who inspires you? Abolitionists? Suffragists? Union organizers? Civil rights workers? Peace activists? Occupiers? They all have one thing in common. They were ordinary people faced with extraordinary injustice. Then they stood up, walked out of their comfort zones, and into history. They made the world better for all of us. Now we can all join them.

Thanks to our right-wing activist Supreme Court, corporations and billionaires now legally and proudly own our politicians. Our elected representatives no longer have to pretend that they give two hoots about us. Americans’ confidence in our public institutions is at an all-time low. But there is a way to turn things around. There are people already working on it. And we need your help.

If you haven't heard about the Reason Rally (and, the way things have been going this year, America needs a Reason Rally), it'll be on the Mall in Washington, DC on Saturday, March 24. Speakers include Richard Dawkins, Adam Savage, James Randi, and this year's poster child against irrationality, Jessica Ahlquist.
If you live near Pittsburgh and are thinking about going to the Reason Rally, the Pittsburgh Bus still needs 27 riders! I think this will be a very interesting day, probably similar to the Rally for Sanity that Stewart/Colbert sponsored back in late 2010, but with more scientific speakers.
http://reasonrally.dcrallybus.com/Travel/From/Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh, PA - Local organizations On The Spot and the Pittsburgh Tote Bag Project have teamed up to dedicate the month of March to collecting menstrual supplies with tote bags. On the Spot works to address the scarcity of menstrual products for many young girls in local low-income communities. The group focuses on collecting menstrual supplies that can be distributed in the schools, where teachers and staff often purchase items for girls who come to school with nothing. The Pittsburgh Tote Bag Project collects items defined as a “priority” by Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank.

Many women and girls in our region simply do not have the extra cash to stop at the drug store to pick up a box of tampons or pads. SNAP (food stamps) doesn’t cover these products. The difficult reality for many working women is that feminine hygiene products are a luxury.

During the month of March (Women’s History Month), The Pittsburgh Tote Bag Project and On the Spot, will be asking community members to fill tote bags with menstrual supplies for those women and girls in our region who so desperately need them. One grocery store tote bag with pads or tampons could provide a local woman with up to six months worth of supplies. Totes with products can be donated at any of the regular drop-spots for the three projects. More information on drop-off spots can be found at www.tote4pgh.com/sister-supplies.

“Dignity is an important part of the project,” explains Sue Kerr, co-chair of The Pittsburgh Tote Bag Project. “It is good fit with our goal of making the food pantry experience a bit more dignified. Working with On The Spot highlights the impact of poverty throughout our community and creates opportunities for us to support our neighbors.”

Suggested ways to participate include asking coworkers or family members to purchase products to be included in a tote bag, organizing a drive at your place of worship or community group, or working with a group of young women to educate them about this critical need.

“Many women and girls are stunned when they realize that this need exists,” says Kerr. “We take these items for granted, assume that the days of using rags or similar solutions are ‘history.’ That’s why we chose Women’s History Month – it is important for everyone to understand that poverty – even for working families – makes this very much a current problem.

So yesterday, Senator Casey, after claiming to be a "pro labor," "pro woman" Senator, was one of three Democrats to vote in favor of the Blunt amendment. Luckily, Olympnia Snow voted against it and helped to kill it.
Yesterday, Representative Timothy Murphy, who represents part of the same district that Rick Santorum used to "represent," got in a fight with Secretary Sebelius. http://m.examiner.com/liberal-in-baltimore/she-blinded-him-with-science It's a shame so many of our representatives are so scientifically ignorant and hate women's rights to govern their own health care so much.
So do we have any people who plan to run against these jokers? We need people who aren't going to constantly vote for 19th-century ideology.